Step 6: Shut-Off Valve Step 3

This is awesome and I'm so excited about building one.<br /> I'm changing it slightly and using an evaporative cooler float valve instead, will maybe write an instructable if it's successful.<br /> You wrote you'd update when the veggies bloom but I don't see an update- did you get too busy or was there a hitch? Did this work out for you?<br />

Did that work? Did it need to be modified. Seems an easier solution than fussing with a toilet float valve.

this is my unpublished instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-Regulating-Container-Garden/ results: mixed. The peas love love love it and I'm having to go up to the roof every other day to detangle them from each other and wrap them around the poles. the soybeans and greenbeans are doing well too. All 3 of them developed roots all the way down to the water bucket. The carrots/chives were a horrible algae mess and the 2 transplants i bought (tomatoes and peppers) can't seem to decide what they think. I'm new tyo gardening, so I welcome any suggestions or theories on the failures. Here are current pics, about a month after building.

This is awesome!! So glad it worked out for you. I'm absolutely going to do mark II with those evaporative cooler float valves. So much easier. Great instructable!

<p>Your basic problem is not how you are transporting water. The problem is that without a barrier &quot;the barrier can be a couple of inches of air&quot; your soil can take up all the water in your reserve whether the plants want that much water or not. For most plants the answer is no. The only passageway from your water level to your soil level should be a larger plastic go up or instant coffee bottle tall enough to sit on the bottom of your container,you should mark how high the water level is. It should continue through your air gap. Mark where it enters the soil and comes within at least one inch of the top of your soil. Take the container out drill lots of holes under the line you marked where it entered the air. Start at the level you marked where it entered the soil. Drill lots of holes from that line up to the top. Fill the container with soiless potting soil mixture or sand. The container should not shift. Dirt should not fall from around the edges into the water. The container should fill with water around the sand or mix. If the soil around the cup is dry it will wick up the water mixed in the container. More water will enter the bottom holes. Once the soil around the cup is wet it will send that water to the drier parts of the soil. Only when the soil around the cup has given up enough water to the other soilwill it be able to wick more water from the cup. If your gardening container is large, place a second wick cup away from the first.</p>

Actually, I just googled the valves. They way cheaper too!

Thank you so much, and thank you for your insructable on which mine is based. After reading yours I fell in love with the idea. question: how did your plants go? Did you also have mixed results or were they consistent? Did you get any algae? Did you start seeds and transplant or sow directly to the ground? Did you water overhead at all or just use the main reservoir? Like I said, new to gardening and learning it all by trial and error.

I think this is a great solution! I look forward to the results! Thank you for posting your experiment! :)

this is a great idea. I was wondering about root rot. Have you had any trouble?

Good question... Anyone know?

i dont think you can claim self watering when you have to 'physically' fill the reservoir.
I got all excited for about 2 min
Nice thought though

You can automatically fill up the reservoir with another float valve hooked up to a water supply, that way when the reservoir level goes down the water supply refills it, much like a toilet.

I think this comes about as close as you could ask for to a self watering system. yes someone still has to fill the initial reservoir but what did you expect? if you put it under a gutter or a water collector from your roof then it might help but this is already freaking great!<br />

If you seal the top of your reservoir air tight, (perhaps this would require a different container for the reservoir, I'm thinking like a water cooler bottle with a screw lid), you would not need the float valves, as air pressure would keep the water in the bottle which would only flow out when water levels in the planters fell to where air could be sucked in through the watering tube. Then, only the level of the watering tube end in the planter would determine the water level. This method would probably require a slightly larger watering tube diameter, to account for water surface tension, to allow air to flow in while water escapes. The tubes would also need to be kept at a continual slope, so as not to trap air, which you have already achieved, although it is unnecessary for your system. Thanks for your work!

This guy has the idea: <br> <br>http://lifehacker.com/5891194/build-a-self+regulating-automatic-plant-watering-system-with-a-plastic-bottle-and-a-tray <br> <br>no need for complicated valves! just air pressure. yay!

Nevermind about the continual slope, I was looking at the pics posted from olddirtyspatuala haha!

Hello, everybody!<br><br>I just wrote an instructable about self-watering (mainly for indoor plants, but will work for some outdoor setups): really self-regulating, and no powering needs.<br><br>It is here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Self-regulating-watering-system<br><br>Hope someone find it useful.<br><br>Best wishes, <br>Gustavo.

wow going in my garden<br>

Great concept. I'm wondering if this type of mechanism might even work on a larger scale; like my front yard. This is the second instructable within two weeks which I've seen that toilet-valve used; useful, indeed! Thanks for sharing!
FTG

I don't see why it couldn't. The shut-off valves keep the containers from over watering, so in theory you could have as many containers as you wanted running off one reservoir. I guess you could also hook it up to a garden hose instead of the reservoir and never have to water your plants again.

or hook it up to a rain barrel<br />

i think im going to try this when i have time with a Kerick float valve M252 and mod the float <br />

do you think a rubber ball pushing against a washer would do when the water level increases in the reservoir it would cause a seal they did use something like that in ancient plumbing systems

I'm not sure what part of the country you are from, but here in the southwest there are still a lot of swamp coolers in use which use a very small float valve to maintain a proper water level. Therefore doing away with modifying a flush valve. the 1/4 in plastic line is connected to a hose bib with a needle valve.
I'm not sure what part of the country you are from, but here in the southwest there are still a lot swamp coolers in use. These coolers use a very small float valve that will eliminate modifying a flush valve plus you only have to drill a 3/8 inch hole to install it. A 1/4 inch plastic hose connected to a hose bib with a needle valve and your in business.
If you do not have a water faucet close by connect to your 5 gal bucket.

You could always try the vacuum system with no floats or anything, just keep everything level , the outlet from your reservoir has to be the same level for all grow boxes you want to hook up, say 3cm from the bottom, then into the first growbox you need an air line at the same level, then run that to nearly the top of your reservoir, you only need one air line, but the reservoir must be airtight, use those plastic containers with the screw on caps, the water will fill to the top of the inlet and when it drops it exposes the air line and lets more in again until the airline is covered with water, you just make up a manifold to fill the other boxes from your first inlet, all the boxes will fill to the same level

Just curious - is there any benefit of using a mechanical valve as opposed to a siphon (that would not require lifting the reservoir bucket)?

Great idea. If you live in the southwest or western deserts you could use evaporative cooler float valves. They are ultra simple to install and you can shorten the float lever arm just about as much as you need to fit. There is nothing to take apart or re-fit. Just make sure the hole you drill for it is the right height, hook it up and you're done.
They're available at almost any home center here.

using evaporative cooler float valves is a great idea, and would prob save a ton of time spent on modifying the toilet float.

If you could get this near a rain down spout it could refill itself during the rain showers. I think this is a great idea and well written. Good job!

Replace the shutoff valve with 2 sizes of pvc and a pingpong ball.

i tried that on the first version (that's the stuff you see ripped out in the photo), the pressure of the water in the bottom of the bucket isn't enough to shut off the flow, the ping-pong ball ends up just bobbing around while the reservoir empties in into the bucket rendering the whole shutoff valve useless. Good idea though, I wish it had worked, it would have been simpler.